


Kisses for Christmas

by linasane



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Christmas, M/M, Secret Santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-27
Updated: 2014-12-27
Packaged: 2018-03-03 19:34:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2882237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/linasane/pseuds/linasane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Dean and Cas play Secret Santa.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kisses for Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> Totally unedited - sorry!

Castiel arrives at school on Monday excited and ready to go.  He’s normally not this eager to be here, but it’s December, and December means Christmas decorations and holiday music pumping through the speakers in the hallways.  Castiel’s even put on the first of his (many) holiday sweaters, grinning as he steps into the building.

His face falls as he looks around and finds…nothing.  No music, no decorations, not even a half-assed paper snowflake.  The school looks as it always does, dull and institutional.  An instant gloominess settles over Castiel, and he pulls his sweater off, stuffing it into his backpack before heading towards his locker.

* * *

Castiel mopes all the way until lunch, which he is not looking forward to.  To make everything worse, he’s alone – all of his friends took AP physics while he took astronomy, and since they have tests every Monday afternoon, they study in the library through lunch.

When he walks into the cafeteria, however, Castiel is amazed.  What was once the ugliest room in the school is now a veritable winter wonderland.  There’s fake snow piled in the corners of the room, ornaments and tinsel hanging from the ceiling, paper snowflakes on all of the windows, and, of course, glitter _everywhere_.

He’s in awe all the way through the lunch line, and can’t help but rubberneck all the way to his usual table in the corner of the room by the vending machines.  Christmas cheer restored, Castiel tucks into his lunch enthusiastically.

He’s just finishing up a surprisingly not horrible slice of “Santa’s Surprise” pizza when he hears a familiar voice from the door next to him.

“Holy shit.  It looks like Santa threw up in here.”

Castiel turns to find Dean Winchester gawking up at the decorations.  When his gaze reaches the corner where Castiel sits, he smiles.

“Hey, Cas.”

“Hello, Dean,” Castiel says, smiling back. “Not a fan of the holidays?”

“Holidays, yes,” Dean says as he walks over to Cas’s table. “Holiday decorations?  In moderation.  This is just…ridiculous,” he chuckles.  “Hey, can you watch my bag for a sec?”

Castiel nods, watching as Dean sets his bag down and ducks around the vending machines and reminding himself to take a breath.

He met Dean last year, when they worked together on teach theater for the schools musical, and he’s been crushing on the other boy ever since.  Unfortunately, they’d been assigned to different productions this year and, since Dean’s a senior and Cas is a junior, they don’t have any classes together.  They’ve barely seen each other beyond an occasional hello in the hallways…until now.

Dean comes back around the corner, holding up two Cokes.

“Apparently the vending machine is malfunctioning in the spirit of Christmas,” he explains. “Want one?”

Cas nods yet again, getting out a “thank you, Dean,” before lapsing back into silence.  He’s cursing himself for turning into an awkward mess when Dean speaks up again.

“You’re big on holidays, aren’t you though?” he asks, pulling a fast food bag from his backpack and unwrapping one of two burgers and taking a bite.  Talking with your mouth full shouldn’t be that endearing, Castiel thinks as Dean continues, “I mean, don’t you usually have one of those crazy holiday sweaters on by this time of year?”

Castiel smiles at the fact that Dean apparently knows this about him.  “I do,” he says, unzipping his bag to pull out his sweater of the day.”

“I knew it!” Dean says with a grin. “How come you’re not wearing it?”

Cas shrugs.  “I don’t know.  The school doesn’t really seem to be in the Christmas spirit this year.  The rest of the school, I mean,” he amends when Dean cocks an eyebrow at their surroundings.

“Nah, man,” Dean says through his burger, “you gotta make your own Christmas spirit then.”  He waves an arm at the sweater, encouraging, “Come on, put it on!”

Castiel does.

“There it is!” Dean says, “It looks good on you, Cas.”

Cas is pretty sure he’s blushing now, but hopefully he can blame it on the warmth of the sweater.

They sit for a moment in comfortable silence while Dean unwraps his second burger.

“Oh hey,” he says, “are you doing that whole Secret Santa thing?”

“Secret Santa thing?” Cas asks with a tilt of his head.

“Yeah,” Dean explains, “Becky Rosen’s running it, so I’m sure you’ll hear about it soon.  She’s the one that did all the decorations, you know?  I heard they limited her to one room on purpose.  Guess it makes sense – can’t have the whole school looking like Santa’s workshop when we still have to pay attention to classes for another two weeks.”

Castiel hums in agreement, mind still stuck on the Secret Santa idea.  “Did you sign up?” he asks Dean.

The other teen nods.  “Hell yeah, dude.  Presents all next week?  I’m in.”

“Well then,” Cas says, “maybe I will too.”

“Yeah?”

Castiel nods.

“Awesome,” Dean grins.  He looks like he’s about to say something else when the bell rings.  “Shit, I’ve gotta go meet everyone for lunch.”

“Didn’t you just eat lunch?” Castiel asks.

“Yeah, but that was my free period,” Dean explains, “Now it’s actually lunch time.  And today’s pizza and pie day.”

“Dean, you just ate two burgers.”

Dean just leans over the table with a smile.  “Rule number one, Cas,” he says, “there’s always room for pie.  I’ll see ya later, alright?”

“Alright, Dean,” Cas says.

Dean gives him one last smile, and then he’s gone.

Castiel’s own grin, however, stays on his face for the rest of the day.

* * *

Becky Rosen does indeed find Castiel, and he’s assigned his Secret Santa that Friday.

Dean finds him at his locker that afternoon.

“Hey, Cas,” he greets. “Who’d you get for your Secret Santa?”

“What if I can’t tell you?” Cas asks, eyes wide.

“Oh shit, did you get me? Did you get me and I just totally ruined it?” Dean’s babbling now. “Crap, just like, forget everything I said in the past thirty seconds, I mean–”

“Relax, Dean,” Castiel cuts him off, “I didn’t get you.  It was a joke.”

Dean’s expression goes from panicked to impressed all at once.  “Damn, Cas,” he says, “I didn’t know you had it in you.  So, who’d you get then?”

“Um,” Cas looks at his assignment sheet again, “Jo Harvelle?”

“Yeah?” Dean says, “She’s a tough one, man.  Don’t go giving her any girly shit if you wanna live, alright?”

“I’ll keep that in mind, Dean,” Cas assures him.  “Who did you get?

“Meg Masters,” Dean reads off his own paper. “She’s one of your friends, right?”

“Yes.”

“Hey, I’ve got an idea,” Dean says, “I was gonna go to the mall to get all of my Secret Santa gifts tomorrow.  You wanna come with me, and we can help each other out?”

Shocked as he is at the offer, Castiel can’t do anything but nod.

“Awesome!  Meet you there at like, two?”

Cas barely manages a second nod before Dean’s clapping a hand on his shoulder and taking off down the hallway.

And that’s how he ends up at the mall on a Saturday afternoon in December.

* * *

“Holy shit, it’s crowded in here.”

“It’s December, Dean, what did you expect?”

“Touché.  Alright, where should we start?”

They end up starting at one end of the mall and making their way to the other, picking out gifts all the way.  For the most part, they take each other’s advice – with a few notable exceptions (“Really, Dean?  A flask?”  “Have you _met_ Jo?” and “Dude, I’m not buying her a stuffed animal, come on.”  “It’s a Hellhoundz doll, Dean, just trust me.”).

Despite their searching the entire mall, the school-mandated five-dollar-per-gift limit and picky Secret Santas leave them each short one present.

“I think I’ll just bake her some cookies,” Castiel says. “Food is always a good choice, right?”

“Hell yeah, man,” Dean tells him. “Hey, how about we make ‘em together?  Tomorrow, maybe?”

Shifting his bags of gifts, Castiel smiles, “I’d like that, Dean.”

* * *

Going from barely seeing Dean in the hallways to being at his house is such a quick turn of events that Castiel thinks he may have whiplash.  And yet, here he is.  Even crazier, they’re alone in the house, as the rest of the Winchester family has gone out Christmas shopping.

The house is still warm and cozy, despite having only two occupants.  There’s already a Christmas tree in the living room (“My family’s really into the holidays, too,” Dean had explained), lights glowing in the dimness of the December afternoon.  Dean had switched on the radio in the kitchen as well, and carols are drifting softly from its speakers.

“Alright,” Dean says, clapping his hands together, “What kind of cookies did you wanna make?”

Cas considers this for a moment before answering, “I’ve always liked snickerdoodles around the holidays.”

“Ah, no can do, man,” Dean explains, “I’m allergic to cinnamon.  How about good old fashioned chocolate chip instead?”

“Sounds good to me,” Castiel agrees.

“Sweet.  Let’s get started,” Dean says, heading for the pantry.

Watching Dean bake is a surprised for Castiel.  The other boy is so at ease in the kitchen, measuring out ingredients with his hands instead of utensils, not looking at a recipe once.

“My mom bakes a lot,” Dean explains when Cas comments on this. “I help her out because, dude, cookie dough.”  To emphasize his point, he pops a large chunk of raw dough into his mouth, smiling around it.  “Delicious.”

“Also _raw_ ,” Cas tells him.

“Aw, come on, man.  Live a little,” Dean urges, even going so far as to hold up a glob of dough for Castiel.  “I _will_ do the airplane thing, I swear,” he threatens.

Reluctantly, Castiel opens his mouth and allows Dean to pop the cookie dough inside.  It _is_ really delicious.

“Good right?” Dean asks with a smile.

Castiel nods but narrows his eyes.  “If I get salmonella, I’m blaming you,” he deadpans.

“Oh shut up,” Dean chuckles, knocking his shoulder against the other teen’s before turning back to the bowl of dough. “Come on, we got work to do.”

Castiel thinks he laughs more that afternoon than he has in a long while, and it only partly has to do with the feeling of the holidays that settles around them as they bake.  He leaves that day with two heaping plates of chocolate chip cookies, flour in his hair and on his sweater, and a huge grin on his face.

* * *

Cas is still smiling when Dean finds him on Monday during lunch.

“Hey, man,” he says, sliding onto the bench opposite the younger boy, “You get your Secret Santa gift yet?”

“Yes,” Cas tells him, pulling the gift from his backpack, “but I haven’t opened it yet.  How about you?”

Dean plunks a (shoddily wrapped) package onto the table.  “Same here.  Wanna open ‘em together?”

Castiel nods, tearing into the paper on his gift.  He’s surprised to find a small candle that smells exactly like Christmas.  He’s about to say as much when he looks up and finds Dean staring down at his own gift with a disbelieving look on his face.

“Dude, what the hell?” Dean asks, holding up what looks to be an especially ugly troll doll, complete with a shock of bright pink hair.

“Maybe someone’s just a really big Guardians of the Galaxy fan?” Castiel supplies dubiously.

“Yeah, maybe,” Dean says, stuffing the doll into his backpack.

“I’m sure you’ll get a better gift tomorrow, Dean,” Cas reassures him.

* * *

Dean does not get a better gift the next day.

In some unspoken agreement, Cas and Dean wait until they run into each other in the hallway after classes to open their gifts.

Cas is once again pleased at his gift, a tiny snowman keychain that he immediately clips onto his backpack.

Dean unwraps a sparkling plastic tiara, and Castiel laughs just a little bit too hard, earning him a glare from the other boy.

* * *

On Wednesday, Castiel receives a soft knitted beanie that matches his sweaters.

Dean gets a leaky snowglobe.

“At least it’s Christmassy?” Cas offers.

Dean smiles at him despite the shitty gift.

* * *

On Thursday, Dean pulls a box of cinnamon tea out of a beat-up gift bag, which he promptly hands over to Cas.

Castiel gets a tiara, and Dean laughs so hard he cries.

* * *

As much fun as he’s having unwrapping their gifts together every day, Castiel feels bad that Dean hasn’t gotten one good present.  With Friday being the last day before break, he doesn’t have much homework on Thursday afternoon, so he decides to go out and get Dean a proper gift.

He gets the present home, gets it wrapped, and then promptly begins to freak out about actually giving it to the other boy.

* * *

On Friday, the Secret Santas are supposed to hand over their gifts in person.  Castiel doesn’t hear from his, though, and by the time the day ends and he’s standing present-less at his locker, he doesn’t think he’s going to.

Dean shows up as usual, though.

“Dude,” he says by way of greeting, “you’re not going to believe this.  My Secret Santa?  Gordon fucking Walker.  No wonder he gave me such shitty presents.  He didn’t even give me anything today.  Told me my gift was him not punching me in the face or something.  What a dick.”

Castiel’s about to offer his sympathies when there’s a tap on his shoulder, and he turns to find no other than Sam Winchester behind him, holding out a neatly wrapped square.

“Merry Christmas, Castiel,” the boy says with a smile.

“Merry Christmas, Sam,” Cas returns. “You’re gifts were very thoughtful.  Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me,” Sam tells him, “Dean picked everything for you.”  He shoots Cas a small smile before heading down the hall, telling Dean he’ll meet him at the car on the way.

Dean watches his little brother go before turning sheepishly back to Castiel.

“You picked all of my gifts?” Cas asks.

“Uh, yeah, man,” Dean says awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck, “Sammy asked me what kind of stuff you liked and I told him what he should get you – no big deal.”  He gestures to the present in Castiel’s hands.  “That’s a, uh, Led Zeppelin CD by the way, ‘cause you said you’d never heard them before, and you really should.”

Castiel’s hugging the other boy before he can stop himself.  He doesn’t give Dean time to react before he pulls away, embarrassed.

“Thank you, Dean,” he says, rummaging around in his bag. “I, um, I got you a gift as well.”  He hands it over, and Dean unwraps it eagerly.

“Dude, you got me Kisses for Christmas?” Dean asks, surprising Castiel by laughing out loud.

Cas can feel his face flushing in embarrassment, and Dean notices, quickly reigning in his laughter.

“No, dude, this is really awesome,” he assures him, “I’m just laughing because, well, I have another gift for you.  One I didn’t really want to come from Sam.”

On that note, Dean pulls a sprig of mistletoe out of his pocket, holding it up between them.

“So yeah,” he babbles, “it was funny because you got me kisses and I got you…um…”

Before he can go on any longer, Castiel leans in and silences him with a kiss.

“Merry Christmas, Dean,” he murmurs when he pulls back.

Dean smiles as he wraps an arm around the other boy’s waist and pulls him back in.

“Merry Christmas, Cas.”


End file.
